Bids Sought for $13.9M Bridge Rehab

The Maine Department of Transportation is inviting bids for coating, steel repairs and related work on Augusta’s Memorial Bridge—a contract potentially valued at nearly $14 million.

Kozak & Gayer, P.A.

The bridge was rehabbed with a new deck in 2005.

The 62-year old, 11-span bridge carries Routes 100, 201 and 202 over the Kennebec River and the Maine Central Railroad. Nearly 26,000 vehicles each day cross the 2,100-foot-long, 48.5-foot-wide steel truss bridge.

Scope of Work

The project involves 100% removal of the existing coating systems, followed by cleaning and recoating 6.2 million pounds of below-deck structural steel surfaces. SSPC-QP 1 and QP 2 certification are required.

The existing coatings contain lead and chromium (290,867-406,920 ppm lead; 2,643-5,791 ppm chromium; and 5-8 ppm hexavalent chromium). Containment according to SSPC-Guide 6 will be required.

Maine DOT

The project includes repair of corroded steel components.

The steel will be abrasive blast-cleaned to SSPC-SP 10 (near white); tested for soluble salts with as-needed chloride remediation; and coated with an organic zinc-epoxy-aliphatic polyurethane system.

The project also includes repairing corrosion-damaged steel. Those repairs include removal, replacement and/or strengthening of corrosion-damaged components and connection plates, as well as removal and replacement of rivets with new high-strength bolts.

The contractor must furnish NACE- or SSPC-certified quality control inspectors. Two lanes of traffic must remain open during the project, which is to be completed by Nov. 1, 2013.

‘It’s a Big Bridge’

Bids for the project are expected to total between $11.6 million and $13.9 million.

“It's a big bridge, which is one of the reasons for the cost,” Maine DOT spokesman Mark Latti told the Kennebec Journal.

“And there is lead paint on the bridge, and because of that, it has to be done in an enclosed area. So they'll blast the paint off in a contained area, catch the paint, and then it needs to be disposed of. All those things, and the sheer size of the bridge, add up to that $12 million area.”

The bridge opened in 1949, was last painted in 1992, and underwent an $11 million rehab with new deck in 2005.

Reported by Paint BidTracker, a construction reporting service devoted to identifying contracting opportunities for the coatings community. Visit us on Facebook!

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